God Who Works in Us

             Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (Ephesians 2:12-16a)

Let’s begin with God’s part within this passage. God works in us to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose. He may be using other people, but God is the one in charge. This is the area where atheists get it part way right, and we miss the boat. They judge and blame God for everything bad that happens. He’s integral to bad. On the other hand, while we may not blame or judge Him (because that would be bad), we try to disassociate Him from it, as if - where bad things happening is concerned - He doesn’t exist.

I’m not saying we should judge and blame God for everything that happens. That’s part Paul’s point: we should do everything without grumbling or arguing. What I am saying is this passage tells us that God is at work in us, and our goal is to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, so that we may become pure and blameless. Working out our salvation and God working in us are both going to be uncomfortable. We’ll come face-to-face with the ugliest parts of ourselves. Bad things will happen, sometimes to deal with our fallenness, and sometimes to prepare us to be kind, encouraging, and loving to others who are facing tough times.

The idea of our obeying without grumbling and arguing is so we can be blameless and pure … in a warped and crooked generation. We are to be shining examples for them, not of perfection but of God’s work in us.